July 5 through July 8: Waiting days

We haven't been allowed to fish since the day tide on July 4. Some boats are giving up and pulling out of the water. Us, we're waiting it out. We have a lot of projects that need attention - baking bread (and cinnamon rolls!), two composting toilets have been languishing in the cabins, uninstalled, since the beginning of the season, while the crew has been suffering with outhouses that need... well... it would be good to get those composting toilets in service. And I really wanted to see if we could get the New Boat into service - we've been managing OK with the Bathtub, but I was hoping we'd have it for a fast trip across Naknek Lake at the end of the season. And unendingly, dishes.

July 5: The composting toilet in the Space Hut was almost ready. But the space it took was stolen from the porch which the crew uses to store fishing gear, and to change into and out of it. So they had to figure out how to make more efficient use of the space.

Here is Roger, standing in the "before" porch at the end closest to the water and farthest from the new toilet. I'm seeing a thought bubble above his head saying, "Yeah, but what are we supposed to do with all this stuff? I don't even know what it is or whose it is or who cares about it or what..."

Now, turn around 180 degrees and look toward the other end of the porch and viola! The new composting toilet, not yet ready for service, but close. After the installation was this far along, we thought of turning the whole things 90 degrees sideways to take up less of the porch, but some of the holes that had already been drilled prevented such changes. It's OK, we'll make good use of the space on either side of the throne.

Here is the "after" view of the non toilet end of the porch. Shelves are out and the porch is reorganized. The toilet end of the porch hasn't changed, but I think it will get a curtain soon.

The whole question of composting toilets is an interesting one this year. I knew it wasn't expected to be a great season this year (though at the beginning of the season, I thought the predictions might be wrong). And of course, business sense says not to spend any more than necessary to make the money. And what kind of toilet we use won't affect how well we fish. But this is more than business for me. I love this place - there is no place I love more. Years of an outhouse in this hearty yet vulnerable ground can't be good for it. So finally, convinced by my experimental composting toilet of their effectiveness, I needed to put my money where my mouth is: composting toilets all around and get away from outhouses. And it's not bad for the crew to have to figure out where to put them and how to install them.

The other project that got some attention the day after Independence Day was the rotten porch in front of the Space Hut. All the photos so far are Sarah's (thank you, Sarah) and she documented this too. This porch was built from pallets and has been rotting for some time. Every step on it was wobbly. So with some time off, this is the next problem to correct. We had already salvaged an insanely heavy structure from the processor with the idea that we would use it for some sort of platform. Stepping on this porch showed us where it was most needed.

We've been moving it out of the way of the tide for a few weeks now and finally, we have a good place to put it. But first, we need to get it up those stairs. It took four of us to carry it short distances. How would we get it up the cliff? My very creative brother-in-law made these aluminum stairs. The stringers have angle iron welded to them, upside down so the pointy side is up. He got some wheels that fit right onto those angles and affixed them to a tram that would roll up and down the ladder, pulled by... in his case, a chainsaw winch and in our case, a capstan winch. The big challenge is how to get the load off the tram and onto the cliff once it makes it up to the top, without it falling back down, or anything or anyone else. The crew decided that it would be easier to handle without the tram, so they used the capstan winch to drag this structured that was to become a porch up the stairs. Once it got to the top, they tied it off to give themselves some time to figure out the best and safest way to move it.

Even though there is plenty of risk in these activities, I am not worried about leaving it to the crew to figure out how to manage it. They are smart and careful, and they are gaining experience. They check each other and together, they make good decisions. They attached additional lines to the porch and hitched it off to the ladder so that when the winch let go, if it proved to be heavier than expected, they could just let go and the lines would keep it from falling down. But it turned out to be easy enough to just muscle it off the stairs, carry it back and install it.

The finished product.

July 6: I have been worried about paying the post office box rent for a while now. It was due the end of June and I just didn't get to it. I wasn't sure what it would mean if we didn't get it paid. The post office is open only in the morning on Saturdays, so taking care of this detail was high on the list for today. We had also been talking about what we could try next with the Yamaha on the New Boat. So Roger decided to come in with me. I was surprised that we spent more than 6 hours in town. That is always so hard for me. My life is on the beach. So after taking care of the PO Box (it's still 305, so keep those cards and letters coming), we got serious with the outboard. And by "we," I mean Roger. Luckily, Harry was around and was willing to help/teach. Roger is an able student and I am excellent at fetching things that people need.

Here is the back of Harry's orange raincoat - it was pouring. He was instructing, while Roger, the yellow-wrapped sponge was soaking up, and I... well, I was watching - and fetching. Maybe I'll learn something about outboards. For a minute there, while I was trying to see what Harry was showing us, I had a really strong sense of how confident and powerful I would be if I actually understood those things. At least the basics. And honestly, it even seemed kind of fun to try to puzzle out a problem. Mmmm... maybe not.

Harry had his subsistence net out - he had gotten 12 in it the day before. It's right off the dock there, and we'd been watching it. It looked like more than 12 to us today. I can't say how Harry was feeling, but I was itching to get it picked. It is very hard to look at fish in a net, whether the tide is coming in or going out, and just let it be. But we had only knee boots and no type of boat. To make it even more difficult, the inside anchor let go and the net was flagging, even with the outside anchor so it would be a long time before it could be reached. Drat!

...Unless Harry can make it come to him! Makenzie got the BatHook out of the BatBoat and it took Harry three tries to snag the loose end.

Here he is with the loose end.

I got a call from David wondering when we would be home (soon), whether we got the outboard fixed (no), and could we bring something back for the people who came up the beach to let us know that the Ambi had gotten loose and had floated way past Pedersen Point, Libbyville, Graveyard - eek!!! What?? Apparently, one of the setnetters down the road noticed our skiff floating by and came to let us know. If they hadn't done that, we would have lost it and that would have been a huge loss. Everyone jumped into gear and David, Josh, and Jake rowed out to the Bathtub to chase down the Ambi. They said they could barely see it on the horizon. They caught up with it - David said he had never been that far out. The caribiner was missing from the bow chain (later research determined that it was still connected to the buoy. Was there a shackle that let go?). Yikes, frightening and yikes.

Roger and I were both greatly relieved when we finally felt like we could go home. All that being-in-town time produced another batch of bread and cinnamon rolls after we got back. I think baking bread says, "home" like nothing else.

July 7: Josh leaves today. Boo!! We took him to the airport, reluctantly. Roger and Luka stayed at AGS to try the last adjustment to the outboard and... nothing. We have officially given up on the New Boat for the season. Roy tells us to get another Honda 90. He says it is good to have as many of the same thing as possible - that way, stocking back up parts is less expensive. Rohan, Jake, and I drove into King Salmon. We gave Rohan a little tour and then it was time to let Josh go. I hate that part.

We picked up Roger and Luka, and headed back to the beach. There, much planning and designing was afoot to determine the ideal structure for the crew cabin composting toilet. We considered using one of the indoor spaces, but finally decided that everyone was more comfortable with an outside structure - and not only outside, but free-standing (not affixed to the cabin). The initial plan called for 2x4s and sheets of plywood. David called to check on prices at the hardware store and came back with something over $400. Back to the drawing board. They then hit on the idea of building the structure out of pallets and scrap plywood.

Sarah got some really good photos of the process. The crew went foraging for free building materials. They came back with these pallets. This photo shows the tram being loaded. Then David will run up the stairs and use the winch to pull up the tram.

Here it is, about half way up.

They hauled the individual pallets back to the location they chose for the outhouse: behind the crew cabin in the corner made by an addition. They created a path to it with pallets and then started to lay down and stand up pallets to see how they would fit together, eventually strengthened by the plywood they would attach to keep the whole thing standing up.

Efforts are still underway and they are determined to get this one into service too. I find myself wondering whether the success of this effort will cause them to rethink the placement of the one in the Space Hut - will they prefer to move that one outside too? They have decided to orient the toilet so it faces back into the tundra and they chose a piece of plywood with a big window in it, so they can look out. They are also thinking about mounting a steering wheel there and perhaps a throttle. We'll see how that goes.

While they were working on that, I started an Ethiopian dinner - doro wat and chickpea wat. Rohan pitched in what dal and Sarah and I collaborated on fried rice. I didn't think everyone would be so hungry... Rohan had made us a delicious meatloaf for lunch. But I think working in the wind with body and mind together works up an appetite.

July 8: Jake and Rohan and I went into town early to help Harry with his subsistence net. It was a very long process. When we got back, the rest of the crew was up and tackling the outhouse again. It's still not done but I think it will be in a day or two. We went back in to help with the fish caught this evening too. I mentioned above that Harry's first catch was 12 fish. Then it jumped up to 40 and this evening, to 50 or 60. That's a good sign. We hear rumors about a possible commercial opening in a day or two.